A recent study suggests that eating kimchi, the traditional fermented cabbage dish from South Korea, may help remove nanoplastics from the human body.
The study, published in the international journal Bioresource Technology, presents a potential biological approach to addressing the growing concern over internal plastic accumulation.
Conducted by researchers led by Dr. Se Hee Lee and Tae Woong Whon at the World Institute of Kimchi (WiKim), the study examined how nanoplastics entering the body could be removed.
Nanoplastics are ultrafine plastic particles measuring less than one micrometer, formed as larger plastic materials break down over time. Due to their microscopic size, these particles can easily enter the human body through food and water.
Public health researchers have raised concerns about nanoplastics because of their ability to penetrate the intestinal barrier and potentially reach vital organs such as the kidneys and brain.
To explore a possible solution, the research team focused on a strain of lactic acid bacteria isolated from kimchi, known as Leuconostoc mesenteroides CBA3656. The researchers evaluated its capacity for “biosorption,” or its ability to bind to polystyrene nanoplastics (PS-NPs) on its cell surface.
Under controlled laboratory conditions, the kimchi-derived strain demonstrated strong performance, achieving an adsorption efficiency of 87%. This was comparable to a reference strain, Latilactobacillus sakei CBA3608, which recorded an 85% adsorption rate.
However, results diverged significantly under simulated human intestinal conditions. While the reference strain’s binding capacity dropped sharply to just 3%, L. mesenteroides CBA3656 maintained a much higher binding efficiency of 57%, indicating its resilience in the complex environment of the digestive tract.
To determine whether this binding could translate into actual removal from the body, researchers conducted in vivo experiments using germ-free mice. The study found that mice given the CBA3656 strain excreted more than twice the amount of microplastics in their feces compared to those that did not receive the probiotic.
These findings suggest that the bacterium may help facilitate the removal of nanoplastics through normal waste excretion.
“Plastic pollution is increasingly recognized not only as an environmental issue but also as a public health concern,” Lee said. “Our findings suggest that microorganisms derived from traditional fermented foods could represent a new biological approach to address this emerging challenge.”
The study adds to growing research on the health benefits of fermented foods, highlighting how their live microbes may directly interact with environmental pollutants in the gut.
Researchers at the World Institute of Kimchi said they plan to build on these findings to further explore the potential of kimchi-derived microbial resources in promoting public health and addressing environmental challenges.
